I have a red 05 na. I am thinking this summer that I am gonna get it painted before I go down to college. I was thinking something like two tone where red would be the bottom portion and then black would be like the mirror up and the grille with a white pinstripe, or I was just thinking about going all black car with a red pin stripe?? Can any one use like Photoshop and just take a picture off of google and then play around with it and post it up here?? Also i have 20% tint to put all the way around so can any one that has done that to there cruiser post pics??? I would love to see what people come up with as paint schemes and the tint!

It depends on the "eye to brain" visual effect you are shooting for. "Automotive design 101" tells you that a darker color (black, etc.) on top will trick the brain into seeing a long, low, slinky car. Lighter color on top (white, etc.) will give the car a short, tall, pudgy look. If the car you are painting is already very long and low then going with a lighter color on top might suit your purpose. If it's a PT, then you might lean towards a darker color on top. In about two minutes, a "California Duster" will take care of the dust problem that you will certainly get with a black top. Notice how tall I look and how long and low the PT looks. I only stand 5 foot 3 inches on a good day.

I kinda dig on the two tone black over red look as well. Split at the body line like Tom's above is a pretty clean look, and like Jerry had also pointed out, the look does create the physiological illusion of the car being lower and longer than it is as it draws your eye to the more vibrant of the two colors.

I also can attest even though I love shooting black over a perfectly straight body, it does get hot, and dusty in a hurry, and if your not extremely careful in how you dust it off, as well as keeping up with it regularly, black is notorious for showing all imperfections, micro scratching, and swirls. Trust me, black paint will easily require at least one coat of a good glaze, hand paste wax, and preferably a good paint sealant at least once every 30 days to keep looking decent. Anything less and it will start showing damage in a heartbeat which would be really sad on a an otherwise good paint job.

Their are also a couple of other things you may wish to consider when thinking about a two tone paint scheme. If you are planning on splitting the paint color at the beltline, are you also planning on having the paint continue inside the door jambs, or under the hood as well to properly match up? And most of the time when doing a two tone paint scheme, you want to do something to break up the two colors, weather it be a graphic, or simple pin stripe, and so on along with what colors to use or whatever, you should give some thought to that as well ahead of time so you and your painter are on the same page. Another thing you have to consider which your Painter will know is if you live in a State which is now enforcing the new Federal Air Quality Laws which mandate the use of Water Borne Paints as these newer types of paints are about three times the cost of the older solvent base. This all has an effect on the overall cost.

I know right now if I were to shoot a two tone in a basic base/clear, you would be honestly looking at a minimum of somewhere in the neighborhood of $2800.00 - $3200.00 to shoot no frills, just bare bones paint and simple hand pin stripe to break the color including a good amount of aftermarket clear which is way better than OEM as most Body Shops will do to to help protect the new custom paint which is shot by hand instead of robotics like Factory.

I say this not to discourage, or disappoint by any means, but rather to give you a good idea of the real world cost more than anything so your more prepared. You would be surprised at the amount of people that think paint is simple and cheap only to be blindsided by just how complicated and involved it really is.

Now on the other hand you could go for the two tone approach,

Or even a cool set of Rally Stripes can look really cool as well,

Or if you ever got to the point where you really wanted to take your paint to the next level entirely, you could shoot your whole PT in a black base, and then shoot either a brandywine, or even blue Candy Paint which is inherently transparent and if done right can create this way cool effect where your ride will look totally black till the light hits it and picks up the color pigment and makes the paint pop out at you. Here is an example though its not even close to seeing it in person!

Anyways, that is just a small bit of advice from the experience from an old Painter, and custom paint Enthusiast. Please take it only for what it is worth. If you ever have any questions, comments, or anything, I am always around, and more than happy to try to help honestly tell the straight truth with no BS or try to help out any way I can anytime anyway. Just ask any of the guys. I am streetlight up always no question, and will never lead you down a path or anything. Will always give you the 100% truth on anything. I have nothing to gain by telling you a lie ever and never will lead you on the wrong path ever. Never have, and never will!